The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-06-02
TEACHING THE BLIND.
A Reporters Visit to a School
OF Sightless Pupils.
Interesting Fact, About the Blind that
are not Generally Known

are not Generally Known
A New York Sun reporter has been
visiting a school for the blind. Wequotc
from his interesting account:
The superintendent was announced.
The reporter turned to the blind ladies
and thanked them for their courtesy.
IIo unconsciously bowed low to their
unsecing eyes, as men nod and gesticu-
late at the telephone. Turning to Will
liam B. Wait he looked with much Gu
riosity into his eyes. They were tho eyes
that did tho seeing for 500 sightless
human beings. Wonderful eyes they
are, bcaming with kindliness nd intelli-
gence, with merry wrinkles lurking in
the corners, and conveying remarkable
impression of depth, as if they were
storchouses for others visions. The su-
perintendent said that there are $50
pupils in the building, and that the main
hall can seat 750.
"What is the proportion of blind per-
sons to the total populationT
About one in every 1000 for this lati-
tude. This holds good throughout
America and Europe. When you get in
Africa, where there is sand; or in the
mining regions, where accidents abound; !;
or in extreme northern latitudes, where
the glare from ice and snow dazzles the
proportion is greater.
"Whom do you receive heref"
"We take children of eight and over,
and we give them an education. We do
not take grown persons. Most of those
have obtained their education before they
become blind. Two impressions prevail
about blind persons. People will read
of the remarkable exploits of man like
Fawcett, and they will conclude that all
blind persons are wonderfully gifted.
Then they will see some blind persons
who have not been educated, and they
will con nclude that all blind persons are
helpless. The truth is, blind persons
who get their education in institutions
for the blind can be developed into Won
derful proficiency, but those who have
received their education before they be-
came blind have hard work all their life. I"
"What proportion of the blind do the
institutions deal with ~
''It is very much smaller than people
have any idea Of. The number of blind
persons under ten years of age is only
Z per cent. of the whole number; be-
tween 10 and 90 years, 13 per cent; be-
tween 20 and 50, 30 per cent; and over
so years, so per cen:;s that the num-
Der of sehoo.able blind does not exceed
is per cent. from which it appears that
7s out Of 100 of the blind get their edu.
cation AMI training in schools for the
seeing if at all"
care the other senses moro largely
developed by the loss of the sight1
"The capacity for general develop.
mcnt is diminished in proportion to the
importance of the faculty that is lost in
an unaidcd condition. When the loss is
supplemented by proper means and ap
pliances of instruction, then blind per
son, the mind being unaffected, is yet
susceptible to the highest development.
This is shown by the attainmcnts of men
in practical life such as Fawcett, Sclli,
the remarkably successful furniture man
OF Newburgh, and Saunderson, who was
bind at four years of age, but who sue.
ceeded Sir Isaac Newton, as professor Of
mathematics at Cambridge"
"What faculties and senses arc most
developed to replace the lost one7"
Memory and the sense of hearing.
They have to rely upon them more.
Hearing can be developed SO finely that
they can tell whether furniture has beer
taken out of room and replaced will
new, and know when the location o.
furniture has been changed. In walking
along the sidewalk they can tell when
they come near post"
"rhat must be sort OF ncrvephone,
isn't it?"
II can't say what it is that enable.
them to detect the past, but they can d.
it."
''Can they detect colors by the touch
as is claimedl"
"People humbug themselves abou
that. In very coarse fa5rics, like jutc
the blind can sometimes tell the color BY
the feel of the texture that is change
by the coloring matter But they can
no. detect color in glass. People SCI
them asserting colorcl beads. 1t is no
the color but the size that enables then
TO put them in the right boxes"
do the blind have any idea o
color2"
"Wherc they have been blind from
childhood they have none. What Others
have is matter of memory. When the
optic nerves are gone everything is al
black as tar to them"
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